‘The Kids Are Alright’ Creator on Michael Cudlitz’s Transition from ‘Walking Dead’ to Family Sitcom

It’s easy for actors to become pigeonholed. But this fall Michael Cudlitz of The Walking Dead, Southland, and Band of Brothers fame is breaking out of his tortured antihero mold to join one of ABC’s latest sitcoms. At the Television Critics Association’s 2018 summer tour Decider spoke to The Kids Are Alright creator Tim Doyle and star Michael Cudlitz about making the switch from battling the undead to fathering eight crazy kids.

Starring Cudlitz and Mary McCormack, The Kids Are Alright follows the Claery family, a traditional Irish-Catholic family in the 1970s. But what sets the Claerys apart from their neighbors is that they have eight crazy kids, all desperate to make a name for themselves inside of this hectic household. Much like one of ABC’s other family sitcom blasts from the pasts, The Goldbergs, The Kids Are Alright is a surprisingly intimate project. The series is based heavily on creator Tim Doyle’s childhood.

When thinking about who would be best for the role of his fictional father, Michael Claery, Doyle reminisced about how huge and intimidating his father looked when he was growing up. Liev Schreiber was on the creator’s list of people he wanted for the role as was Cudlitz.

“Michael was right there on that first list that I made of actors that I think are just physically imposing and they have a wonderful gruffness about them, a no-nonsense quality,” Doyle said.

Doyle was a fan of Cudlitz’s work on Southland, but ABC was skeptical. Sure, the man behind John Cooper could get serious. But was he funny?

“We went and we found a sizzle reel on YouTube of bits from Southland where [Cudlitz] is busting heads and saying funny things while he’s smacking around people on the street,” the creator said. “These little one liners and his delivery of them, I was like ‘Look at this! He’s hilarious!'” ABC signed him.

For Cudlitz the role arrived just as he was thinking about doing something different. Though he noted that he’s been very fortunate for the roles he’s played, the actor has been playing characters who were either killers or killed for years.

“After a while you kind of look back and you go, ‘You know what? I want to do something different,'” he said. “It’s the golden age of television but it is certainly filled with a lot of angst and a lot of antiheroes. I just wanted to do something different, and for the last two years I’ve been working towards that. When this came around it was sort of the perfect ticket.”

It was the writing that endeared The Kids Are Alright to Cudlitz, but it was the ending of the first episode that sold him on the part.The show’s first episode builds to a dramatic confrontation between Michael Claery and one of his sons. However, instead of chewing his kid out, Michael throws an emotionally accepting curveball at the last minute. It’s a sweet moment that sets the series apart from similar shows.

“To me that [final scene] really spoke to what the show would be about. That is the very complicated parental-child relationship, but in the end everyone was supported and loved and everyone knew they were loved,” Cudlitz said.

But just because he’s accepted a role on a family sitcom that doesn’t mean he’s completely through with the world of gritty antiheroes. When Decider spoke to Cudlitz he had just finished up directing the Season 9 episode “Stradivarius” for The Walking Dead.

“My history with the show certainly gave insight to the more advanced sort of character elements and the characters that have been on the show before me,” he said. “I worked a lot with some of the original cast.”

As for whether or not Abraham Ford will ever return to the world of The Walking Dead, according to Cudlitz “there’s talk.” Last season of Fear the Walking Dead revealed a collection of mysterious tapes.

“One of the tapes said Abe/ Doctor, which would be myself and doctor Eugene Porter,” he said. “So if anyone were to view any of these tapes we can certainly see that character or those characters pre you know, the Atlanta days.”

But even if we never see Cudlitz fighting zombies again we can always look forward to him fighting the struggles of parenthood one funny yet vulnerable argument at a time.

The Kids Are Alright premieres on ABC Tuesday, October 16 at 8:30/7:30c.